Skin Deep
by Sandshrew777
Summary: Teddy Lupin rarely uses his Metamorphagus abilities. He's not an entertainer, he's a student. He's plain old Teddy. But after an accident in Charms, he realizes the face that stares back at him in the mirror is one he doesn't really like.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of its related indicia. Do I look like Jo Rowling to you? (No, seriously, do I? Maybe I should get a haircut...)**

**Author's Note: My first time writing the new generation. Let's see if I can do them justice. Enjoy!**

* * *

There were some days that Teddy Lupin was glad he kept his ability under wraps.

Today was not one of those days.

They had been practicing Cosmetic Charms for the past week as a fun way to wind down from the end of the first term's examinations. Teddy's partner and dormmate, Evan O'Malley, was their go-to man for Potions (and, being Muggleborn, Muggle Studies). But in Charms he was like a Hippocampus out of water.

It was an easy spell: the Hair Growth Charm. It was a one-hour charm that grew out hair wherever it already was growing. Teddy mastered it within five minutes.

Evan...Evan did not.

And so, only fifteen minutes into class, Teddy was sent on his way to the Hospital Wing looking like an alopecia patient. His eyebrows were gone. His hair was gone. His spotty goatee that he'd been trying to grow out was gone. Even his nose hair had vanished from sight.

On the way, Teddy stopped in the boys' bathroom to check if all of his hair really was gone. He disrobed briefly in a stall and Transfigured the stall wall into a temporary mirror.

His smattering of chest hair was gone. His armpit hair too. His legs were bare.

All of his hair was gone.

Well, maybe not all.

He swallowed. Then he opened the elastic waistband of his briefs and squinted downward.

Yep, all of his hair was gone.

He stared at the image in the mirror. He had done little to change his appearance over his fifteen years of life. His hair was still the same mousy brown it had been ever since he could remember - Harry often told him about his mother's frequently changing, vibrant hair colors and Teddy's own gallery of colors during his infancy. But once he had begun to talk, his hair reverted back to its normal color. Apparently the Metamorphagus gene had to be activated consciously once the Metamorphagus was able. At least, that's what the few books he could find on the subject told him.

Now the hair he'd come to associate with his father - from the pictures Harry had shown him - was gone, all gone, and if Madam Punswickle couldn't grow it back for him, it would be gone for a long while.

It might grow back, in time. He wouldn't know unless he went.

Or...

Professor Cambridge had no idea what had gone wrong with Evan's charm. Neither did anybody else. And if he didn't go to the Hospital Wing, neither would Madam Punswickle.

He was right here, he had a mirror, and he had an ability he almost never used.

It has been ten minutes since he has had this thought. While his mind races to figure out the whys and hows, his reflection stares back at him.

Thick black glasses. Tired hazel eyes. Thin, unremarkable body. Big feet. Short fingers. Small ears.

And a frown.

He'd need new shoes if he changed his feet. Someone might notice a change to his ears, and definitely if he changed the color of his eyes.

But...

He could always give them a little touch-up. And fixing his vision would be a snap - he'd just have to say that he got contacts. His dormmates never saw his body because he got up so early to shower and slept in his dayclothes. No worries there.

Still he frowns.

Then he closes his eyes and tests it.

When he opens them, he has a thick unibrow.

He smiles and chuckles a little. Then he closes his eyes and goes to town.

When he exits the bathroom, he feels like a new man. Gone is the old Teddy Lupin, meek and nervous around the girls. Now he's ready to chat the ladies up.

He rounds a corner and sees a group of girls walking down the corridor. At the forefront is Victoire Weasley.

He nearly swaggers up the hallway. The girls giggle - all but Victoire.

They're almost about to pass each other. It's now or never.

"Hi, Victoire," Teddy ekes out. Then he waves.

Victoire waves back.

"Hi, Teddy."

And then she and her girlfriends are past him.

He watches them round the corner, then sags as they vanish. For a brief moment, he wants to change into a debonair heartthrob and run after them. One of them will want to date the hunky new exchange student.

But he casts this thought aside.

He closes his eyes and starts putting everything back to normal. He doesn't need any of these changes right now - they don't do anything for his confidence.

Even a Metamorphagus can't change his colors.

He walks down the deserted corridor with a smile. It's like Harry says: What will come will come, and he'll meet it when it does. A girlfriend will come along, in time. And he'd rather one who appreciates him in his true form - as his real self - rather than a girl who loves a lie.

The smile lasts until he gets ready for bed. For the first time, he changes his clothes.

"Hey, Ted," Evan says from behind a Potions text, "Sorry about Charms. I see you got your hair back, though."

"Yeah. It didn't take too long. And don't worry about it, man," Teddy adds, grinning as he digs through his trunk for his neglected nightshirt.

"Thanks." Evan looks up from his book. "You been working out, Ted? You look damn good."

Teddy blushes.

"I thought it was time for a change."

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Please review.**


End file.
